Never Let Me Down
by VampedVixen
Summary: When things got rough and Peter was alone and scared, with no one he could turn to for help, in the end he could always count on his brother. It had been that way since they were children.


"_You_ saved the cheerleader," Nathan stood steadfast and determined, ready to do whatever it took to be the hero and do what was right, "so _we_ could save the world."

Somehow in the back of Peter's mind, he always knew what would happen. Nathan would save them. Nathan would fix things and make them better because that's what he did. When things got rough and Peter was alone and scared, with no one he could turn to for help, in the end he could always count on his brother.

It had been that way since they were children.

* * *

This had not been in Peter's plans, though since he was only eight-years-old, he was bound to overlook a few important things. The rain came down in torrents, flooding the streets and soaking his school bag that carried the few essential things he thought he would need out here on his own.

No matter how much it poured though, he wasn't going home. He'd run away and going home now would only defeat that purpose. Choosing instead, to hide out at a city park, he wrapped his arms around his legs and hid under one of the huge art sculptures.

As the night got darker, Peter began to get more and more worried. Then a hand touched his shoulder and he nearly jumped out of his skin, bumping his head on the sculpture he was using for shelter.

"Hey, Pete."

"Nathan?" Peter began but then remembered he wasn't talking to anyone in the family. They were all a bunch of poopheads. Still, as his brother handed him a bag of food, Peter couldn't resist since his stomach was growling. "What do you want? I'm not going home, dad's a dummy."

"I just figured I'd keep you company." Nathan was a teenager now, older and wiser. He understood how people could be dummy and how going home was sometimes the worst thing to do. "Is that okay with you?"

Happy with the company, Peter allowed Nathan some space under the sculpture where they sat together until the storm was over. Then, somehow, Nathan talked Peter into going back home where it was safe and where people really did care about him, even if dad still acted like a dummy sometimes.

It was that night that Nathan became his hero.

* * *

"We can trust him. Nathan has never let me down." Peter told Claire as she argued against his plan. She didn't trust him. Nathan hadn't given her much reason to after trying to kick her out of his life. The only logic Peter could reply with was filled with more emotion than fact, but then he had always led with his feelings. "I'm afraid, okay? And I need my brother to help us."

* * *

Peter had never gotten along that well with his father, the lawyer who thought work was often more important than his family. There were times he wished they knew each other better, though as Peter looked down into the casket where his father was prepared he knew that would never happen.

It was too late.

His thoughts fell on what would happen next, how the family would cope and how he himself would cope with this loss. Despite the distance he'd felt from his father in life, Peter couldn't help feel as if he was being sucked into a deep chasm of fear and depression.

Nathan joined his brother as the casket, keeping silent for a while before trying to find the words to sooth. What Nathan said next stayed with him for a very long time afterwards, changing his outlook on a number of things. "Death is the one thing that connects all of us, Pete. It reminds us what's really important is who we've touched and how much we've given. It shows us that we have to be good to each other while we're still here. That we have to tell each other how we feel while we're still alive."

* * *

Peter couldn't believe the sacrifice his brother was ready to make. He should have been flying out of the city, getting himself to safety but Peter knew that deep in Nathan's heart there was really only one possible choice. He looked at his hero and told him the undeniable truth, "I love you, Nathan."

"I love you too," came the reply. It had taken him a long time to say it, to finally get the words out but if Nathan hadn't said it now, right before they were about to take on a mission that could possibly kill the two of them, he might not have gotten another chance.

* * *

The radioactive explosion was coming soon, Peter could feel it glowing inside of him, building towards the point of no return. Right on the cusp of becoming overwhelmed by the power threatening to escape, Peter looked down and the sight made him dizzy. They were high enough now, his brother could fly away and save himself like he had already saved the rest of them. "I'm ready. I can do this. Let me go, Nathan."

"Pete, I'm not--"

"Get out of here and let me drop. Claire's powers will save me," Peter glanced down again but quickly brought his gaze back up, the aerial view making him lose his nerve. This was it though, he was finally ready to stand on his own, to make it out of this or not. "At least I hope so.. But I'm not going to let you die for me. Now go!"

* * *

While he was falling, Peter had only a few brief moments to think over the past and the one thing that kept coming up was the many times Nathan had saved his life. When kids teased him in school, Nathan was there. When he'd fallen out of their old tree house and broke his arm, Nathan was there. When his father got angry over the fact that Peter had crashed his car, Nathan was there. When past girlfriends had broken his heart, Nathan was there.

The end came in a flash, radiation exploding outwards from his body as he careened down towards the ground. Peter was unconscious by the time he hit the pavement, which was all the more lucky for him.

* * *

Nathan was starring down at him with a worried expression on his face as Peter felt himself getting rushed down the corridor. Nurses and doctors surrounded the gurney, talking in excited and hurried tones. Feeling new pain course through his limbs, Peter reached up for Nathan's arm and held onto his brother like a lifeline. His voice sounded hoarse to his ears as he struggled to speak, "Did we do it, Nathan? Did we--"

"Yeah, Pete," Nathan smiled a smile that seemed to ease all the pain and troubles away, "We did it. We saved the world."

-End-


End file.
